Eminem's childhood home burns down before MTV EMAs

Eminem's childhood home burned down in a fire on Thursday (November 7).

The house, on Detroit's infamous 8 Mile, was boarded up and unoccupied and burned to the ground in a mystery blaze. Fans who have attended the scene report that nothing remains of the modest property.

Matt Toporek told local newspaper the Detroit Free Press that he had been to the house just a day before the fire and had seen the front door open. A day later, he returned to see nothing left. He said: "Just went inside and everything was burnt down; two days ago, it was fine. I don’t know who does this, but this is a Detroit legend. Depressing.”

Eminem won two awards – Global Icon and Best Hip Hop Act – at the MTV EMAs in Amsterdam on Sunday (Nov 10), and is thought to have learned of the fire while at the ceremony. The house, which Eminem moved into with his mum Deborah Mathers in 1987, featured on the cover of the star’s third album 'The Marshall Mathers LP' in 2000.

Firefighter were called to the scene on Thursday and were able to put out the fire, although portions of the top floor are said to have been destroyed. The house was most recently owned by Michigan Land Bank, a US Government program that manages empty properties, of which there are around 11,000 in Detroit.